Resolution
by HPtwilightfanatic
Summary: Lily has never much liked parties, and she is dreading the approaching New Year. James is only thinking of the present, specifically midnight, and the tradition that follows along with it. Reflecting on the last year, James and Lily ring in the New Year. Oneshot. Happy New Year everybody!


***A/N: Just a short and sweet oneshot, the ones I love the best. I know that today is already New Year's, but it would have been physically impossible to post this last night. I hope you all enjoy! Thank you for reading lovies! Happy 2013 to all!

Lily Evans had never been one for parties. Sure, she enjoyed festivals, and fireworks, and being around friends. But she always found her mind wandering, and the party would suddenly not seem as fun as it once was.

So when Alice and Marlene dragged her down to the Gryffindor common room on New Year's Eve, at first she was amazed with what had been done with the place. The common room couldn't even be recognized. Streamers were everywhere, with confetti continuously falling from the ceiling. It would probably be hell to clean up, but for now it looked fantastic.

Getting pushed and pulled through the crowd, Lily found herself at a large table filled with all sorts of goodies. There were pumpkin pasties, Bertie Bott's, and all sorts of puddings and cakes. All of it looked like it came directly from Hogsmeade, which it probably had. Lily glanced over all of the heads that filled the crowd, her eyes settling on one mass of unruly ebony hair. She smiled to herself, looking down at the butterbeer she'd taken in her hand. All of this had to be the Marauder's doing.

The voices were so loud, filling every corner of the room. There were multiple rounds of Exploding Snap occurring all at once, making tiny fireworks pop up all over the room. It was chaos, but it was fun. The smiles around the room gave away the anticipation everyone held for the coming year.

Lily found it almost funny that people all over the world just waited for the end of a year, like it was something to look forward to. Usually they would be exciting, something new to experience. But this New Year just signaled that Lily's time at Hogwarts was coming to a close. She would only have a few months left after the coming year began.

So seeing the large clock that was raised above the fireplace tick away, leaving only a small amount of time left of the year she was in now, did not make her one of the happiest people in the room. It was amazing that all of her classmates could see that with smiles on their faces, not thinking on the significance of the moment they were all waiting for.

Clutching the mug of butterbeer she hadn't even taken a sip of, Lily suddenly did not want to witness this New Year come into her life. She wanted to stay in the old one.

It had been a good year. Of course, with Alice and Marly with her it had been fun. But classes had been good as well. She loved being Head Girl. She loved this year.

Strangely though, the thing she remembered most from the last year was she and James Potter had become friends. If friends was what one could call what they had. At least there was no more (well, not as much,) yelling that happened in hallways. With James being Head Boy, there was really no other option than to get along. But they'd done more than get along. He made her laugh and smile. She would search for him in the Great Hall, wait for him after class just to walk with him. She wasn't used to feeling like that when it came to James Potter.

The clock chimed loudly, announcing that there was only a half an hour before the New Year would be upon them. Lily could have sworn that the clock glared right at her when it screamed that, as if warning her.

"Hey Lils, have you seen Frank? He's seems to have disappeared…" Alice's eyes scanned the room for her boyfriend.

"No, I haven't seen him all night." Lily shrugged, barely looking up from the foam of her butterbeer.

"Well if he wants his kiss at midnight, he better show up sometime soon." The short haired girl smiled smugly at her friend.

"Speaking of snogging are we?" A loud voice came from behind the two girls. Three boys squeezed through the crowd, Sirius Black in the lead, tripped over his own feet.

"You would be the one to hear that from across the room, Black!" Alice scolded, returning to her search for Frank.

"Well, I'm not going to lie. New Year's is my favorite holiday," Black looked smug as he took another swig of his fire whiskey.

"And why is that?" Alice played along, trying not to giggle.

"Because there are so many desperate girls looking for someone to kiss at midnight. I'm only happy to oblige them." Sirius mock bowed, spilling the rest of his drink. He tried to take another sip of the missing liquid when Marly emerged from the crowd next to the boy.

Glancing up from her mug, Lily caught James' hazel eyes on her. He gave her a smile, the one that always made her want to smile as well. But with that giant clock face hanging right above him, she could not conjure a returning grin.

"So who are you going to kiss at midnight?" Alice teased, poking Sirius. The smug look on his face prepared them all for a smart retort, but Sirius caught Marly's eye, and simply shrugged. He made to take another sip of his drink and finally realized the mug was empty.

The loud announcement came again from the clock, now saying there was only fifteen minutes until the New Year.

She wasn't sure why these worries were suddenly filling her gut, but without bothering to finish her drink. Lily quietly excused herself, making a break for the stairs. She didn't think anybody would really notice, since Frank had finally made his appearance at Alice's side. What she didn't count on was a pair of hazel eyes following her trail through the crowd.

Lily was halfway up the stairs to the girl's dormitory, looking forward to welcoming the dreaded New Year from under her quilt, hopefully asleep, when a voice stopped her.

"Wait!"

James scrambled quickly up the stairs after her, his clothes almost as disheveled as his hair from rushing through the crowd of people.

"How did you get up here?" Lily asked her brow furrowing. Right as she asked the question, she mentally slapped herself. The Marauders would be the ones to find out a way up the girl's dormitory stairs without it turning into a slide.

He must have known what she was thinking, for he just smirked quickly, and moved up the stairs closer to her.

"Why are you going up so early?"

"Early? It's already 11:30!"

"But it's New Year's," James urged, looking nervously down at his watch as if time had sped up.

"So?" Lily inched up another step, but James just followed her, not leaving very much room between them.

"Don't you want to wait till midnight? For the New Year?" His eyes ran over her face. He was her height now as he stood on the step below hers.

Lily shook her head, trying not to think about the end of her school career. When school ended, she wouldn't have the routine schedule of going from class to class. The professors that had become her mentors over the past years would not be there to help her anymore. She wouldn't see her friends everyday, the ones that had become her family.

She wouldn't see James Potter anymore, the boy who had become a large part of her life simply by asking her out in every way possible. The thing that bit at her was the fact that knowing that bothered her.

No, she didn't want to wait until midnight to welcome this year. She didn't want this year to come at all.

James held an almost panicked look in his eyes at the small shake of her head. He glanced back down at his watch, and when his gaze came back to her, they were set. They were darker than usual and steady, never leaving her bright emerald eyes.

"Well, let's just pretend it's midnight then." He said it so simply, yet his voice was so hoarse.

"James, why would we-" But Lily never got to tell James her reasoning on how silly it would be to pretend it was a certain time. His lips descended on hers gently, but firmly. With his hands sliding up her arms, holding her shoulders tightly, he pressed her against the stone wall.

James was expecting a fight. He was expecting a hex, a slap, and a firm scolding that would probably catch everyone's attention in the school. He was expecting what she would have done if he'd asked her out.

But Lily didn't meet those expectations.

Surprising herself, Lily's eyes fell closed immediately when his lips met hers. Slowly, her arms lifted, winding themselves around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

Feeling his lips move against hers, his tongue against hers, and his skin against hers, the coming year suddenly didn't seem so frightening. The end of her school career may be drawing nearer with every passing day, but the tingles that were rising from her toes, and the heat that was filling her whole being brushed those worries aside.

She didn't exactly feel like she was Lily Evans, but she felt more alive than she'd ever felt in her life all at the same time. James' lips traveled to her neck, making the tingles in her belly even more prominent. Pressing kisses to her collar bone, he breathed something against her skin, but she couldn't make it out.

He pulled away very slightly, keeping their foreheads pressed together.

"You can pretend it's midnight anytime." Lily whispered, her breath fanning over his face, making his eyes close. He took a deep breath, a smile taking shape on his slightly more swollen lips.

"Are you coming back down to the party?" He asked, his breath coming heavily.

Lily had never been one for parties. But with those hazel eyes on hers, and her lips still charged from their kiss, she couldn't bring the "no" that she usually threw in his face up from the depths of her throat. Actually, she believed that the "no" would not be coming up very often anymore.

New Years were not meant to fear. They were meant to be looked forward too. No matter how hard she looked, Lily could not find the previous fear that had filled her. The heat coming from James had chased it away.

So allowing her hand to slip into James', and his lips to fall on hers once more, she followed him down the stairs, ready to welcome the New Year by his side.


End file.
